National Rugby League (NRL) side Melbourne Storm has launched Australia’s first ‘smart stadium’ loyalty and fan engagement solution at Melbourne’s AAMI Park stadium.

The technology, embedded in all Storm membership cards and supported by contactless reader hardware, rolled out across AAMI Park for the 2015 NRL season and integrates payment, access, loyalty rewards and patron analytics technology. The technology has been designed to support sporting clubs to create dynamic fan engagement and improve the match day experience.

Storm members can now upload funds to the their contactless membership cards or NFC enabled smartphones – that have downloaded the Storm/SmartSite app, which is scheduled to launch this month – online or at terminals around the stadium. They can then tap their phone or membership card at readers at food, drink and merchandise vendors to make cashless payments and earn Lightning Rewards points.

Following a trial during the 2014 NRL home and away season, the technology has become a standard component of Storm’s membership and loyalty program. According to the club, over the first five home games this year, there has been a steady increase in members using the card’s cashless wallet function to spend and accrue loyalty points for food, drink and merchandise purchases.